I caved… I bought an Autobot starter set at Walmart along with 5 Booster packs. I plan on checking out with a friend who has been into Magic for a long time this weekend, then possibly grabbing a booster box before PAX Unplugged if I really fall in love. Your talks about the game really made me curious!

I have a question for the next time you get to talk with Drew. Since Hasbro/Takara have in the past been comfortable talking about and showing prototypes of products (either at conventions or designer desk stuff, etc) is there any chance we could see a designer discussion on an earlier iteration of the game? Maybe some discussion about what gave rise to certain mechanics, how they changed with play testing etc? I'm always super curious on the process that goes into making a fun balanced competitive game!

You guys mentioned something about double sleeving both the big and little cards, I opened my packs and think I should go ahead and do that. What exactly do I buy to double sleeve everything?

Edit: Nevermind, I saw the post in the TCG forum, super helpful, thanks!

I caved… I bought an Autobot starter set at Walmart along with 5 Booster packs. I plan on checking out with a friend who has been into Magic for a long time this weekend, then possibly grabbing a booster box before PAX Unplugged if I really fall in love. Your talks about the game really made me curious!

I have a question for the next time you get to talk with Drew. Since Hasbro/Takara have in the past been comfortable talking about and showing prototypes of products (either at conventions or designer desk stuff, etc) is there any chance we could see a designer discussion on an earlier iteration of the game? Maybe some discussion about what gave rise to certain mechanics, how they changed with play testing etc? I'm always super curious on the process that goes into making a fun balanced competitive game!

I'm so happy you guys have established this relationship with Drew now. Hopefully this leads to semi-regular conversations (at least as long as there's stuff he's allowed to talk about).

And I can't believe I'm actually considering buying 2 copies of this deck, 1 for Metroplex, and 1 to use the buddies in other decks (and just in case Height Advantage doesn't get reprinted with Trypticon or whoever comes next).

Are there podcast/board members going to PAX Unplugged? I haven't gotten the anything from the card game yet, I was planning on trying it out at the convention and maybe picking some up. But if there is some sort of Transformers TCG meetup by any boardmembers, I will grab a box ahead of time to try and have something playable put together.

I wish it was in the cards (get it?) for me to get to PAX. I’d like to be able to get to one of those larger shows some day. GenCon is fun but frequently ends up being a lot of work for me.

GAUGE

I still have yet to get this game. mainly due to the fact I have nobody to play it with. and if I'm going to be honest, no friends either. I'm not in any way a part of the Fandom here in Arizona because of various reasons. (mainly because since I'm on SSI and don't have a job or Vehicle, I'm looked down upon, and treated with a certain amount of disdain. and because I have a mental illness (BPD) and PTSD (due to past childhood trauma and other traumas suffered as an adult). People would rather not subject themselves to it or my personality as a whole, and that's fine. Their prerogative. Nothing I can do about it as you can't change a personality, you can only modify behavior.

So sadly, for me personally, I don't foresee myself ever buying the game. Which is a huge shame because it really does look fun. I just have no real means to play the game socially or publicly. Because playing games like this require knowing the people to do so, or rather knowing the proper places to go to play the game. I just can't see myself wasting money on it just for the art, that feels a bit depressing to me. I'd rather just keep focusing on the Toys themselves.

I really wish the fandom was more friendly and socially acceptable to people like me. but, they just aren't, not really. Most people here (in Arizona) are patronizing and way overly passive aggressive with anybody outside their social circles. But in the past, I've not made it easy either (their words not mine). I made many mistakes and due to having a very poor self-esteem, rubbed everybody the wrong way. and naturally nobody really wants to take the time or make the effort to get to know anyone who they deem to be difficult to deal with or be around.

So yeah I'll never get to experience this game. Also my reasoning for getting out of playing Magic The Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh! too. the groups I've tried to play with acted exactly the same way. and yeah, the gaming crowd has their own forms of Dramatics. A few bad apples out there who love stealing your cards, or destroying them, or stealing your decks you work so hard to build and trying to claim they never did even though you see them using your deck plain as day.

Apologies for rambling.

I believe there is a module for tabletop simulator for the game. Look into that and you can play virtual games without the investment or having to get out there. For the social concerns, I’d suggest to you that you try to go to a smaller local convention or a meet up. Have conversations about the shared interests (toys, comics, whatever) and go from there. If you’ve got spare decks you can use teaching the game as an icebreaker and a focus to keep a shared interest going.

I still have yet to get this game. mainly due to the fact I have nobody to play it with. and if I'm going to be honest, no friends either. I'm not in any way a part of the Fandom here in Arizona because of various reasons. (mainly because since I'm on SSI and don't have a job or Vehicle, I'm looked down upon, and treated with a certain amount of disdain. and because I have a mental illness (BPD) and PTSD (due to past childhood trauma and other traumas suffered as an adult). People would rather not subject themselves to it or my personality as a whole, and that's fine. Their prerogative. Nothing I can do about it as you can't change a personality, you can only modify behavior.

So sadly, for me personally, I don't foresee myself ever buying the game. Which is a huge shame because it really does look fun. I just have no real means to play the game socially or publicly. Because playing games like this require knowing the people to do so, or rather knowing the proper places to go to play the game. I just can't see myself wasting money on it just for the art, that feels a bit depressing to me. I'd rather just keep focusing on the Toys themselves.

I really wish the fandom was more friendly and socially acceptable to people like me. but, they just aren't, not really. Most people here (in Arizona) are patronizing and way overly passive aggressive with anybody outside their social circles. But in the past, I've not made it easy either (their words not mine). I made many mistakes and due to having a very poor self-esteem, rubbed everybody the wrong way. and naturally nobody really wants to take the time or make the effort to get to know anyone who they deem to be difficult to deal with or be around.

So yeah I'll never get to experience this game. Also my reasoning for getting out of playing Magic The Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh! too. the groups I've tried to play with acted exactly the same way. and yeah, the gaming crowd has their own forms of Dramatics. A few bad apples out there who love stealing your cards, or destroying them, or stealing your decks you work so hard to build and trying to claim they never did even though you see them using your deck plain as day.

Are there podcast/board members going to PAX Unplugged? I haven't gotten the anything from the card game yet, I was planning on trying it out at the convention and maybe picking some up. But if there is some sort of Transformers TCG meetup by any boardmembers, I will grab a box ahead of time to try and have something playable put together.